


Younger Brothers and Reformations

by rose2377



Category: One Piece
Genre: Different Devil Fruit Monkey D. Luffy, M/M, Older brother Luffy, Slightly Serious Luffy, Smart Monkey D. Luffy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:42:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25543813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rose2377/pseuds/rose2377
Summary: When Ace is captured, the Whitebeard crew rush to save him, moving as fast as they can to stop him from being executed. Marco is one of the most involved, mother hen that he is, and finds that worrying about his brothers leads him to someone surprising.What he and most of the crew don't know, is that Ace and Sabo have another older brother, one who will stop at nothing to help them. Monkey D. Luffy joins the battle with a bang, changing the tides of war and saving Ace with the help of Marco and his crew. Marco is immediately enamored with the man and finds himself being dragged into things he never thought possible. Luffy brings him along as he endeavors to change the world and rule over it as the King of Pirates.
Relationships: Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Monkey D. Luffy
Comments: 71
Kudos: 528





	1. News Gets Around

**Author's Note:**

> I've loved this ship for awhile and I hope its up to par with the other fics on this platform. I apologize for the characters that are out of character, I haven't gotten used to writing them yet. Hopefully that will change.  
> Hope you like it and enjoy reading!

Sabo read the article and then read it again and then again. His heart dropped to the pit of his stomach and he swallowed down the bile in his throat. “Dammit Ace, why are you always so reckless?”

He ran a hand through his hair, walking towards his Pops’ chair, where Marco, Izo, and him seemed to be in a deep conversation. Probably about Thatch. He was still in the infirmary and there wasn’t any sign of him getting better. Too bad for them, their problems had just gotten even worse and they had another brother/son to worry about.

“Pops, have you seen the newspaper from today?” 

Whitebeard shook his head and held his hand out, Sabo handing over the paper obediently and watching as Pops’ face darkened. He passed it to Marco next, who then passed it to  Izo , who then threw the cursed thing into the ocean.

“Why the hell did Ace have to go after Teach?” Marco grumbled, hands shoved into his pockets and eyebrows furrowed. Although he sounded annoyed, Sabo knew he was more worried than anything else.

“What are we going to do?”  Izo asked. “They’re going to execute him in less than two weeks and if we want to stop them, it’ll mean war.”

“Don’t worry about it, they knew what they were starting by capturing one of my sons.” Pops straightened to his full height; eyes bright with rage. “Izo, start sailing toward Marineford, we don’t have any time to lose.” Izo nodded and immediately rushed away. “Marco, call all of our allies and tell them to meet us there, as fast as they can.”

Marco walked past Sabo, clapping him briefly on the shoulder and giving him a reassuring smile, one that didn’t reach his eyes. Sabo watched as his brothers strode away, feeling incredibly helpless without a job of his own to do.

A big, heavy hand, rested gently on his shoulder. “Don’t worry son, everything will be alright, we’ll get Ace back.”

Sabo nodded, not really believing the words, but hoping nonetheless. Ace would be fine, he always was, even when logically he shouldn’t be. Ace would be  fine; they’d all be fine.

***

Sanji hummed, cooking up a second feast in the span of a few hours for his ever-hungry captain. He ignored the arguing outside of his kitchen, surprised by the fact that Luffy hadn’t barged in looking for food yet. 

“Luffy, no!”  Usopp shouted. There was a crash and he realized that Luffy not barging in wasn’t because of any kind of self-restraint he had.

Chuckling,  Sanji sent out a silent ‘thank you’ to the crewmates who helped him cook in peace for once. Then, calculating the time, he grabbed a few  belis to pay the News Coo, who would be coming by soon. 

He flicked his eyes over the back of the newspaper first and turned it to the front, freezing as he read the main article. “Shit.”

Turning off the burners, he carelessly threw the food back down, ignoring the cigarette that fell from his mouth. He rushed outside, ignoring everybody else and heading towards where Luffy was grappling with Franky and Usopp. 

“Captain!” That immediately got Luffy’s attention and everybody else’s too, it was already rare for them to call him that, much less saying it on the Thousand Sunny. So, everybody watched as he jogged toward Luffy, handing him that morning’s newspaper.

Sanji watched as his captain froze, then as his fingers clenched around the paper, then as his eyes darkened, and then as his face twisted with rage. “Ace has been captured,” he said calmly. “We’re going to Marineford.”

None of them dared to even question the order, immediately turning their ship around and focusing on what would happen later.  Sanji just hoped that they’d get there in time before anything bad happened to Ace or to the Whitebeard pirates.

***

Shanks slammed his head against his mast repeatedly, hoping that this was all a dream and that he would wake up soon. “What were you thinking, Senny? Kidnapping one of Whitebeard’s sons, who also happens to be Luffy’s brother? Are you trying to pick a fight?”

He groaned, burying his head into his hands. This was a mess, a huge, idiotic mess. There was no way that this would end in a good way. If Whitebeard and Luffy won, it would mean their rebelling against the world. If the marines won, it would mean that Luffy and Whitebeard failed and they would both die. Either way, nothing good would come of this.

Sighing, he turned toward Benn. “What should I do?”

His first mate shrugged. “I don’t know, but keep in mind that Luffy will hate you forever if you stand by and do nothing.”

“Ah, that’s true, I didn’t even think about that.” He sighed again, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Two  Yonkos involved was already pretty devastating, if he came as well, there was no way  Marineford would be left standing. But if he didn’t come, Luffy would never talk to him again, and Shanks didn’t want that.

So, he had to decide between obliterating  Marineford and avoiding the war. “Set sail for Marineford,” he murmured. 

Benn chuckled and walked away to give the orders. Hopefully they’d travel quickly, they were already pretty far away from that place. If he showed, even at just the end, Luffy would be okay with that, right? He shook his head; he’d find out when they got there. For now, he just had to wait and hope that his bad feelings went unfounded.

***

Mihawk sighed, burning evidence of the newspaper that was causing him so many problems. The marines were idiots. He already knew this, but this was idiotic on a whole other level. Fire fist Ace was a renowned fighter and his family ties were known throughout the seas. Not many knew of his relation to Luffy, but Luffy’s allies did and they wouldn’t let the marines take Ace away.

That was another reason the marines were idiots; they had never considered Luffy’s allies a threat. When actually, his allies were probably even more dangerous than Whitebeards. His allies were from all necks of the world and would do absolutely anything for Luffy, even help him start a war. Whilst Whitebeard’s would help, they weren’t nearly as enamored with the man as Luffy’s were.

And they were just as unreasonable as the Straw-hat pirate, making it so there were hundreds of people with the same kind of personality as Luffy. This didn’t include the allies he had that were in power. There were three Shichibukai in his pockets, one Yonko, two kings and princesses, and an entire revolutionary army.

Really, the marines hadn’t thought this through at all. It made  Mihawk sigh in exasperation, but their stupidity was actually pretty helpful to him. This way he could stay a  Shicibukai , Luffy wouldn’t need his help with all the other people coming. All he had to do was stay out of Luffy’s way and keep his promises.  Mihawk shook his head, hopefully this war would be over with quickly and without too many casualties. Although, he had a feeling that hoping was a waste of time, and that the outcome of this battle was already decided.


	2. The War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The war, start to finish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry, this is so late! I got busy with life and was really unhappy with my writing for a while and just life in general. Hope you enjoy and sorry about how fast-paced this chapter is, I'm not good at slowing things down.

Marco had learned of Monkey D. Luffy through newspaper articles and stories of his deeds through word of mouth. Awed whispers followed after whatever the man did and truthfully, Marco couldn’t blame them. From saving the kids at Punk Hazard to the defeat of Big Mom and then the defeat of Kaido, legends of Monkey D. Luffy’s accomplishments floated around the world. 

But Marco hadn’t really had any special feelings for him, any kind of interest or intrigue. That is, until he arrives at Marineford with a bang and declares that the marines can’t kill Ace.

The war hadn’t begun yet, tension rippling through the air, as pirates and marines glared across the land toward each other. Marco couldn’t remember the last time he had been this furious. Maybe it was when he had been forced to kill, ripping through slave after innocent slave. Maybe when he had been forced to kneel in front of spineless cowards, seastone chains wrapped around his broken and weak body. 

He couldn’t remember exactly. What he did know was that he wouldn’t leave this place without Ace and if he did it would be in a body bag. He wouldn’t lose a brother today, not a single one. Marco glared toward the marines, trying to covey this with a single look. Most of them ignored him, but Kizaru smirked cockily, the bastard.

He stepped forward, ready to begin the fight, when suddenly the marines focus wasn’t on him or his family anymore, instead focusing on something behind them. He turned and felt his eyes widen in surprise; he had never expected anyone outside of his family to come.

Yet, in all his glory, stood Monkey D. Luffy. His black vest billowing behind him in a sudden burst of wind, familiar straw hat shadowing his eyes, and bright smile dangerously sharp. “Yo, you weren’t going to start without me, were you?” 

The other strode forward, settling next to Marco comfortably. 

“Luffy,” Sabo’s voice was filled with joy and briefly, he wondered how they knew each other. Then Akainu was flying towards them and he didn’t have any more time to think about it. The strawhat pirate reacted quickly, blocking the punch with a haki covered leg. 

“Oi, you take the dog, I need to get to Ace.”

Marco narrowed his eyes. “How exactly do you know Ace and Sabo?”

He smiled again, warmer this time. “I’ll tell you later, but for now let’s focus on saving him first.” With that the man rushed forward,  past Akainu , and when the admiral attacked, Marco reacted instinctively. He blocked the magma covered punch with his flames, glaring fiercely, as he covered the other’s retreat. 

“Working with the Strawhats now, Marco the Phoenix? I never thought your Pops would sink so low.”

Marco grit his teeth, forcing himself to remain calm. A hard feat, considering he felt like a live wire, ready to blow at any second. “Not really, he just showed up, but if he’s helping us then I can’t say I mind too much.”

Akainu scoffed, magma rising up around him, as his rage seemed to grow. “Well, too bad for you, I won’t let a single one of you leave alive.”

Marco grinned sharply. “Good thing we never asked for your permission then, huh?”

With a roar, Akainu launched towards him, bursts of magma propelling his feet forward. He let the pull of his own devil fruit takeover and dodged upwards in his phoenix form. The wind sent his flames twisting and spiraling, ruffling through his feather. 

From up here, he could see all the battles taking place.  Izo was fighting against  Kizaru , both uncharacteristically serious. The other looked disheveled, black hair undone and fluttering in the wind as he shot every light bullet  Kizaru shot toward him. Marco didn’t know how he was able to do that but he was proud of his brother.

On the other side of Marineford, Vista was facing off against Aokiji, swords flashing as fast as they could go, as he cut down everything the marine sent toward him. His brother had bleeding cuts all over his body, but none of them seemed serious, so Marco left him alone for now.

Jozu was ripping off chunks of ice from the frozen sea wall  Aokji had created and throwing them down at groups of marines, crushing them. He almost felt bad for the newbies, they had had no idea what they were getting into. 

He looked around and frowned, realizing suddenly, that Jinbei wasn’t anywhere he could see. There was no way that the fishman would ever miss out on saving Ace willingly. He frowned worriedly but shoved the thought away, he would worry about Jinbei later. 

And then there, in the middle of Marineford, was the strawhat captain. The unconscious forms of hundreds of marines surrounded him, as he made his way to the execution platform. Even from his position in the air, Marco could feel the haki wafting off of him. How could one person hold so much will power?

There wasn’t anybody to answer his thought and he couldn’t ponder on it anymore, as Akainu resumed his attacks. The marine launched himself upwards with another burst of magma, reaching for Marco with a haki infused hand. He flew backwards, squawking in annoyance, as he dodged around the bastard. 

They both landed on the ground, Marco turning back, as they faced off again. “You’ll never save him, Portgas D. Ace will pay for his sins.”

Marco flames flared upward as his rage suddenly increased. “Sin?! What sin?! The sin of being born, of being the pirate king’s son?! That’s bullshit! Ace didn’t do anything wrong; his only sin was ever believing that bastards like you were right about him!” He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, rage coursing through his veins. “No matter what, I’ll save my brother and I’ll make sure that you marines never lay a hand on him again.” 

They attacked at the same time, flinging themselves forward, and letting their fists clash in the middle. Marco’s flames reflected brilliantly in Akainu’s soulless black eyes, his magma glowing and warping the colors. He was sure his eyes looked similar, probably glowing a bit from the prolonged state of using his powers. 

His hand was starting to burn, even  through a protective layer of his flames,  Akainu’s magma was still incredibly hot and dangerous. He was about to pull back when he could feel a sudden attack coming towards them and instead flew upwards. He watched as a large slash cut into the ground and as  Mihawk followed after it.

“What do you think you’re doing, pirate?”Akainu hissed. He had been barely able to dodge back, the gash in the ground a few feet in front of him. 

“I’m doing what I have to do. Luffy’s a much better employer than you marines and I’ll be damned if I don’t do anything to help him.”

Mihawk, the man who once ignored his Pops for three years because he had made a dumb joke, was on  strawhat’s side? Who the hell was this man?

“Hey, phoenix, go help Luffy, I can handle this guy.”

Marco looked down from his position in the air and squawked out an affirmation, flying where Luffy was standing off against Boa Hancock. He dropped down next to the man, pulling back his power and looking curiously at Hancock, who didn’t seem like she was going to fight anytime soon. 

“What are you doing here?” Hancock asked. He wondered, for a brief second, why she didn’t seem to mind his presence either. Was she on strawhat’s side as well? Then he felt eyes boring into the side of his head and decided he should probably answer.

“Mihawk took over.”

“Ah,  Hawky finally came!” The other pirate finally stopped glaring at him and turned back to Hancock, starting a conversation. But he was too dumbfounded to listen to it. Who the hell would be bold enough to call the greatest swordsman, ‘ Hawky ’? He looked the other man up and down, his curiosity growing with each interaction.

“Luffy, you’re the only man I’ll ever let hit me.” That was the first thing he heard when he zoned back in to the conversation. But he didn’t question it, if he wanted to keep his sanity, he couldn’t question anything that happened around the other.

“Thanks, Hancock.” With that, Luffy punched the woman and she sprawled across the ground. But strangely, she was blushing and smiling? Nope, wasn’t going to question it.

They stepped over her and continued toward the execution platform, dodging or knocking out small marines that thought they could take them out. The next person to actually be able to stop them was Garp.

“Gramps.” Luffy’s voice was sad and angry, he couldn’t even begin to understand why, but he knew this was definitely a family conflict. He stepped to the side, observing Garp’s downtrodden appearance and sorrowful eyes.

“I can’t let you pass, Luffy.” He didn’t sound happy about it. In fact, it looked like it was a struggle to get the words out, with the way his hands were clenched and teeth gritted. 

Luffy pushed the strawhat down slightly, covering his eyes. “Yeah, I know.”

Marco blinked and suddenly, Luffy was right in front of Garp. He watched as the man reared back his fist and slammed it into Garp’s stomach. The marine’s eyes rolled back into his head and he sprawled forward, slamming face first onto the ground. That... ended way too quickly, there was no way a marine of Garp’s level would be knocked out with just one punch.

“Oi, brat, make sure you save him.” Luffy smiled slightly, looking over his shoulder towards Garp’s form with a fond smile.

“You don’t need to tell me that, Gramps, I already know.”

“Make sure you both come back alive.” 

Luffy grinned, confident and calm. “Of course, I can’t die until I become the pirate king anyways.”

Then they started forward again, settling into a fast run. Marco looked at the other pirate from the corner of his eye, boundless questions rising to the tip of his tongue. But now wasn’t the time, he’d question Luffy to his heart's content later.

They continued running, dodging or briefly fighting the marines that got in their way, it was startling easy to fight with Monkey D. Luffy, as if they’d been doing it for years. The execution platform was so close now, all they had to do was run a few more feet. 

That was, of course, when the executioners decided to try to kill Ace. Although, they really  didn’t even get close, as a sudden wave of powerful  haki ripped toward them. Marco felt his legs shake at the intensity, the executioners  didn’t stand a chance and  immediately collapsed in front of Ace. Who stared at them with a large smile and teary  eyes.

He was a mess, bruises covering his body and blood dripping down his nose and mouth. Marco could see how exhausted he was, eyes bloodshot with dark shadows. The  seastone cuffs were tight, rubbing his wrists raw and making blood trail down his arms.

Grabbing a key from one of the  unconscious men, Marco quickly unlocked Ace, catching his brother into a tight hug. Ace immediately turned toward Luffy, who was staring forward tensely, where Sengoku was stomping toward them.

“Bird guy, take Ace to safety, I’ll handle him.” He watched as Luffy cracked his knuckles, a confident smirk curving across his lips. 

“Are you sure you can defeat him?” 

The smirk got a bit wider. “I don’t need to defeat  him; I just need to distract him until you guys get to safety.” Then he was in front of Sengoku, throwing the first punch.

Marco blinked, confused. “That’s his devil fruit, part of it is that he can teleport.” Ace answered his unasked question.

“Alright.” He picked Ace up, dragging the other onto his back. “Let’s get you home, everybody’s been pretty worried.”

“Heh, yeah, thanks Marco.” He felt Ace bury his head into his shoulders, relaxing against him.

He found himself grinning, it was such a relief to have his brother back. Speaking of that, he had something else to do. He sucked in a deep breath. “Hey! We got Ace back!” He shouted as loud as he could.

From all around, he heard his brothers and sisters cheer, and knew word would get around. Pops relaxed slightly from his position on the bow of the Moby Dick, gazing towards them with warmth. Then, all of a sudden, the warmth faded and horror took its place. Marco turned around, just in time to see  Akainu punching toward Ace with his devil fruit activated.

Marco watched as the fist got closer and closer, helpless to stop it in time. Horror washed through him; he was going to watch Ace die. Then Luffy was there and he and Ace watched as  Akainu’s fist speared through the man’s stomach,  splattering his blood across their faces. 

“Luffy!”

***

Luffy felt as if he were burning from inside out, rage coursing through him. The Sunny was heading toward Marineford, as fast as it could. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, the desire to break something growing as each second passed.

Those bastards would pay for taking his brother, he’d rip them all to shreds. Although, truthfully, that wasn’t what made him most mad. No, it was the fact that the marines had planned this, that pissed him off so much.

They had been targeting his allies for the last 3 months. The first thing they did was cut off the supplies to Wano country, making the samurai check what happened and ambushing them when they did. They were fine, of course, but it got bad enough that they wouldn’t be able to leave for a while and wouldn’t be able to help him save Ace.

Next had been Fishman Island. They had blocked the Fishman from leaving by telling them that there was a criminal loose and that they had to catch him. It was a load of bullshit and they knew that, but they couldn’t do anything without it being called a declaration of war. They didn’t want to start a war, not yet anyways. 

Then there was Vivi and  Alabasta . He knew she would have done whatever it took to help him with Ace, even if it was just a kind letter reassuring him. But he hadn’t gotten anything from her and could only assume something had happened to her as well. 

The revolutionary army was in trouble as well. They had gotten sudden reports of thousands of slave auctions, information about more corrupt officials then ever, and nobles abusing their power everywhere. It was suspicious but none of them could figure exactly why this information had been leaked and why the marines did it. Because there was no one else but the marines who could do it. They were so busy dealing with the  onslaught of new information that they wouldn’t be able to help him either.

There was also his fleet, who had told him that they were being constantly chased by the marines. They had suddenly stopped a week ago, but by that time his fleet was on the other side of the  Grand line . They  wouldn’t make it in time, even if Luffy had asked.

Last but not least, was Jinbei. He hadn’t heard from the other in months, even though he had promised to check in at least once a month. Luffy knew something bad had happened to the Fishman, he loved Ace just as much as Luffy did, and there was no way he’d miss out on saving him. 

So, Luffy was furious, for multiple reasons. The marine bastards had had this planned out for months, there was no way this was all a coincidence. They had targeted his allies, took them out of commission and then imprisoned his brother. He’d make them pay.

“Luffy, we’re here.” Nami murmured. They were drifting toward Marineford and he could already see the Whitebeard pirates. That made him smile, his brothers had found a great crew. 

“You all aren’t coming with me.”

They frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I need you to find Jinbei, I have a feeling something bad happened to him.”

Nami frowned. “But that could take months.”

Luffy smiled slightly and shrugged. “I have a feeling that I’ll be out of  commission for a while after this.” 

Usopp opened his mouth, probably to argue some more, but his first mate spoke first. “Understood, take care of yourself, captain.”

Luffy nodded toward  Zoro and then looked toward  Marineford . He let the pull of his power drag him forward and put him right in front of the entrance. He looked over his shoulder to see the Sunny turning around and smiled mournfully. They wouldn’t be able to see each other for a while or at least he wouldn’t be able to see them.

Before he entered though, he scribbled out a quick note and whistled. A sea king rose up out of the water and looked down at him. “Take this to Torao.”

“You dare summon me to deliver a note, puny future king?” But he still bent down and let Luffy put the note in his mouth.

“Thanks.” He rubbed the sea king’s snout and turned around, walking forward and listening to  the sounds of the sea king sinking back into the water.

He walked in, grinning to himself, as everyone immediately turned their attention onto him. “Yo, you weren’t going to start without me, were you?”

Walking forward a few more steps, he settled comfortably next to Whitebeard's first mate. Marco the  Phoenix stared at him with confused but interested eyes. 

“Luffy.” He turned toward Sabo and offered him a reassuring smile. His brother’s face crumpled a bit, but he gave Luffy a watery smile. Whitebeard looked between them with interest but didn’t ask. Then the lava bastard was lunging forward and he couldn’t pay attention to Sabo anymore. 

He blocked the punch with his leg, covered in armament  haki , a dull pain flared through it and there was a slight burning sensation but he still kicked the other back. 

“Oi, you take the dog, I need to get to Ace.”

The first mate narrowed his eyes. “How exactly do you know Ace and Sabo?” He was overprotective too, Luffy liked this guy.

He let himself smile slightly. “I’ll tell you later, but for now let’s focus on saving him first.” 

Luffy lunged forward and sensed, more than anything else, how the phoenix protected his back. He tore through marines with ease, using conquerors'  haki on most and then beating the rest with just his fists. Gecko Moria tried to stop him, mumbling something about how Luffy barely beat him last time and how this time he wouldn’t lose. But Luffy had gotten stronger since then and Moria hadn’t. He beat him with one punch. 

This  continued for a while, but he paused when he heard the phoenix start shouting.

“Sin?! What sin?! The sin of being born, of being the pirate king’s son?! That’s bullshit! Ace didn’t do anything wrong; his only sin was ever believing that bastards like you were right about him! No matter what, I’ll save my brother and I’ll make sure that you marines never lay a hand on him again.”

He found himself grinning, probably the biggest grin he’d had since learning of Ace’s imprisonment. The more he heard from the other pirate, the more he respected him. He was so happy Ace and Sabo found other people to care for them, other people to love him the way he did. 

Running forward again, he ran into Hancock. She flushed and smiled warmly and he knew that if it wasn’t for the marines, she would have hugged him. “How’d you get past  Akainu so fast?” she asked.

“I didn’t. Marco the Phoenix is fighting for him.”

She nodded and then looked up at the sky, frowning. “That one?” She pointed at the blue phoenix flying toward them.

“Yeah, that one.” The first mate landed next to them, switching into his human form.

“What are you doing here?” Hancock asked for him. But the phoenix just stared and Luffy wondered if he was struck by her beauty, the thought was slightly irritating. The other man was supposed to be focusing on Ace. So, he turned toward the other and glared into the side of his head.

“ Mihwak took over.”

And just like that all of his anger was gone. “Ah,  Hawky finally came!” 

The first mate froze and Luffy could practically see his brain rebooting. It made him snicker.

“Luffy, are you sure about this?” He turned back toward Hancock, letting the  slight smile on his face disappear so she knew he was completely serious. 

“Yeah, I am.”

She frowned. “Your plans are going to start much sooner.”

He nodded. “Yeah, but I can’t let the world government kidnap my brother and then do nothing about it. This may be beginning sooner than planned, but I warned everyone that it could start earlier or later. They’ll know what to do after this is over, and plus, this gives me a perfect chance to ask Whitebeard to join.”

Hancock smiled slightly. “Alright, Luffy, I trust you, I’ll begin phase one of your  plans once I get to my island.”

“Good. We’ve been talking for too  long; I’m  going to have to attack you.”

“Luffy, you’re the only man I’ll ever let hit me.” He saw the phoenix get a befuddled expression, but he didn’t seem as if he were going to get lost in his head again.

“Thanks Hancock.” He hit her as fast as he could, sending her into the ground. Flashing her a brief grin, he continued going forward with the phoenix.

They dealt with the small marines with ease and the next person actually able to stop them was his Gramps. He felt a flood of emotions at seeing him; anger for not telling Luffy what was happening sooner, sadness because he knew the old man didn’t want to do this, and guilt  because Luffy was supposed to  protect them, if he had done a better job none of this would have happened.

He wanted to say a lot, wanted to scream and shout and yell, but only one word escaped. “Gramps.”

“I can’t let you pass, Luffy.” He had probably meant for his voice to come out strong and marine-like, but he sounded sad and tired, and... old. Luffy had never seen him as old. Irritating, yes; infuriating, definitely; scary, a few times; but old, never. This really was taking a toll on the old man. 

He pushed his hat down a little bit, the feeling giving him the slightest bit of comfort. “Yeah, I know.” 

He could tell what his Gramps wanted him to do, could see his fear and anger and his desire for Luffy to succeed. So, he did so. Teleporting in front of the man, he infused his fist with  haki and brought it back then punched forward with all the strength he could muster against someone he loved. It didn’t do a thing to him, but the old man rolled his eyes back and fell forward. Ending their “fight” dramatically and quickly.

“Oi, brat, make sure you save him.” His voice was muffled slightly by the ground, but Luffy could hear the desperation anyways. He smiled  slightly; the old man really was getting old.

“You don’t need to tell me that, Gramps, I already know.”

“Make sure you both come back alive.” As if he needed to say that, Luffy would never let either of them die. 

“Of course, I can’t die until I become the pirate king anyways.” He didn’t wait for the man to respond and once again went forward, focusing completely on the platform. There was no way he would ever leave Ace, not willingly at least.

He and the first mate continued to fight, easily sharing space and covering each other’s backs. It was easy to fight with the other man, a surprising  closeness built between them quickly. They were a few feet away from the platform when the executioners decided to finally do something and try to kill Ace. Luffy immediately let his conquerors' haki spread out and watched as they fell to the ground, unconscious.

His brother looked like shit, covered in blood and bruises, but he smiled when he saw them, eyes shining. And he was all right. Something in Luffy’s chest loosened and for the first time in two weeks, it felt like he could breathe again. Ace was all right, he wasn’t going to die.

He watched as Marco unlocked him and pulled Ace into a hug, crushing the other into his arms. Ace looked toward him and he gave him a brief smile, then turned toward Sengoku. The fleet admiral stomped towards them with dark eyes and a fierce scowl.

“Bird guy, take Ace to safety, I’ll handle him.” And whoops, he hadn’t meant to call him that, but the other didn’t seem to mind at least. Although, normally, he didn’t give nicknames to people so easily, only to those he trusted. Oh well, he could think about feelings and shit later. 

“Are you sure you can defeat him?” Marco asked. 

Luffy let himself smirk. “I don’t need to defeat him; I just need to distract him until you guys get to safety.”

Without waiting for a response, he teleported in front of Sengoku and punched him. It didn’t do much, just made the man’s head snap to the side. But it had the added bonus of pissing the man off, even if only slightly.

“So, you’ve decided to work with the Whitebeard pirates?” Sengoku glared down at him, judging and sharp.

“Temporarily, I wouldn’t have had to if you hadn’t taken my brother.”

“I had to make an example of him.”

The sudden burst of rage he felt was explosive, wild and twisting inside of him, bright and blazing. God, what the hell was with these damn marines, believing that children should pay for their parents’ sins. “I won’t ever let you ‘make an example of him’ as long as I’m alive.”

He teleported behind him, kicking toward the bastard's  head and watching as he flew toward the side. It  didn’t put him down for long and the man quickly charged toward him, fist raised. Luffy teleported behind him again, dodging the punch that was  immediately refocused to his new position.

Sengoku  wasn’t using his devil fruit and that was the only reason Luffy was still standing, but he hated that too. He remembered why Sengoku was holding back, that stupid, life-ruining promise from all those years ago flashing through his head.

He  didn’t get to think about it long as his  haki hummed a few seconds later. Images flashed through his mind in the briefest seconds. Ace,  blood and lava dripping down his body, as  Akainu pulled his fist from  his brother’s chest.

Whipping his head toward Ace, he teleported forward, coming between them right in the nick of time. His stomach burned, agony racing through his nerves, he could feel his blood dripping down his sides and he wheezed for a breath that wasn’t there. 

“Luffy!” His brothers shouted. He wanted to respond, to reassure them, but his sight was already darkening and everything was spinning. _Sorry Ace, Sabo._ Then, everything slipped away.

***

Ace lost focus of everything but Luffy. He was pressed against Marco’s back, blood dripping down his body, and face pale. Sabo had taken over carrying him, but Ace didn’t care about that, couldn’t stop replaying what had just happened in his head to do so.

Luffy had gotten hurt protecting him, again. But a hundred times worse than anything before; worse than the bear that slashed him across the chest; worse than the time he fell into the water saving Ace from falling; and even worse than the time he had been shot by some small-time thugs.

His older brother had always done his best to protect him and Sabo, but Ace had never thought it could be this bad. Luffy could... Luffy could lose his life. The thought filled him with dread, a lump formed in his throat, and tears pricked at the corner of his eyes.

“He’ll be fine,” Sabo muttered. He didn’t sound like he believed it, but Ace was too drained to argue, continuing to stare at Luffy’s limp form. 

Before he knew it, they were on the Moby Dick, sailing away, as Shanks arrived and stopped any marines from following after them. The nurses were panicking around him, staring at his brother’s lifeless body with concern and genuine fear. 

And Ace stared with them, stomach dropping somewhere at the bottom of his feet and never rising back up. He and Sabo were dragged away from their frozen state by Marco, who sent them concerned looks in the process.

“Who is he?”

Ace couldn’t speak, thankfully, Sabo was always  calmer in situations like this. “He’s our brother, from the East Blue.”

Marco stumbled, surprise flickering past his face. “Shit,” he hissed. He glanced at Luffy, looking more concerned than he did before. 

Marco rushed them to the head of the ship, ordering them to stay there with sharp eyes and a fierce scowl, as he jogged back toward the deck. They shared a glance and then slumped down, pressed together tightly.

“Sabo, what if.... what if he doesn’t make it.” He could feel Sabo’s shoulders tense and could hear the nervous swallow he did when thongs were too much for him.

“I don’t know, but we can’t think like that. We just have to believe he’ll be okay, somehow.”

Ace nodded, but he didn’t have much hope and knew Sabo didn’t either. They stayed like that for a few minutes until a warning call was sounded and they both tensed up. “Marines?”

“I don’t know, let’s check it out.” They rushed back to the deck and joined the crowd gathered around the side of the ship, where a boat was rising out of the water. Soon enough, the ship of the Heart pirates had come out and their captain had jumped onto the Moby Dick.

“What are you doing here?” Ace hissed venomously. 

They all watched as Trafaglar D. Water kicked lightly at one of Luffy’s arms and huffed. “I’m here to save Luffy- Ya's life, I owe him a debt and I can’t pay it very well if he’s dead.” And then he scooped Luffy into his arms and started heading toward his ship. He, Marco, and Sabo were quick to block his way, glaring at the bastard.

“Let him pass.”

Ace startled and whipped his head around. “Pops?!”

“He’s a surgeon, if anyone can save his life, it’s him.”

Ace and Sabo looked toward one another, frowning as Marco turned toward their Pops with a sharp look in his eyes. “Isn’t he nicknamed the surgeon of death?”

Before he or anybody else could say anything, Luffy made up their minds. A low, rattling cough made them all look at Luffy. “Ace, Sabo,” he wheezed out slowly, “Traffy can save me, so don’t worry about that.”

He smiled at them, as bright and reassuring as ever despite the blood dripping down his mouth and staining his teeth. He quickly passed out again, eyes rolling into the back of his head and head lolling to the side. They quickly let the other pirate past them, watching as he jumped onto the ship calmly. Before he went inside though, he called back to them.

“Head to Boa Hancock’s island, that’s where Luffy- ya will have the best chance of recovering and where he’ll be the safest.” He disappeared into the ship and Ace watched as it slowly sunk down, taking away the person most important to him. He swallowed heavily and quietly hoped that Luffy would be okay, it was all he could do now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter should be out sooner than this one, I'm really sorry for not creating a schedule for this, it would make things much easier. But I'm a chronic procrastinator, so either way it would probably take a while. Sorry!


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